I love the variouse anime but the original manga continuity is a mess that went on a short downwards spiral thanks to the sequels so skip them all. The Koukaku Kidoutai - Stand Alone Complex manga is nearly as good but only a slightly different adaptation of SAC so it is technically not needed. Sleepless Eye on the other hand is both a prequel and a side story to the Arise OVA (and now TV show) universe and 100% canon so it technically needs to be read between episodes and volume 4 is a longer version of the second OVA episode called "Ghost Whispers". Most importantly off all is that the manga even slightly surpasses the new Tow Ubukata universe and he is one of my favorite japanese sci-fi authors. The realistic art is phenomenal and Batou is the lead but Motoko has nearly as much screen time and their dynamic is as engaging as ever which I couldn´t make me happier. The stories after the civil war of volume 1 are as good and the series also adapts and of course improves on scenes form the original manga later. The violence and nudity are very tasteful and justified by context but the manga is reasonably gritty. Nothing really shocking but what else should one expect? It is a crime that this cyberpunk gem has to leave japan and my score could ARISE further if it keeps the quality up but why shouldn´t it. Move on the the Mardock Scramble movies and Psycho-Pass 2 (the very average season 1 can be skipped) for further modern Ubukata quality. The original Armitage III OVA is also a nice companion piece but all 3 of them are a bit uneven at times despite their high entertainment value. The GitS animes are all a must of which Second Gig is even a perfect 10 and the related but lighter Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor universe and the surprisingly similar RideBack should please most. If you only read only ONE modern sci-fi manga then make it this and let´s see where the new anime universe goes next. I just hope that they keep this team together for more tales of the fast and deep net but don´t ask me where Junichi´s newly found writing skillZ are coming form.